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Potter’s Paradise

Surrounding tinted windows make it hard to get a glimpse of what goes on inside the wide brown building down by 15 Canal Street, Dartmouth. If not for the sign that reads “Atlantic Pottery Supplies” and the fresh potted flowers outside, the place may even be mistaken for an abandoned area. But look closely and you’ll see a banner with “Canal Street Potters” written on it, a red painted entrance, six lively potters ready to welcome you and a room bursting with storytelling, laughter and a big dose of creativity.

The newly opened gallery and shop may be a small space but the room packs in a lot of energy from the students, teachers and the Canal Street Potters­—Carol Smeraldo, Judy Gordon, France Arruda, Iris Patterson, Cyndi Yeatman and Katherine Kepkay. The venue also serves as a pottery school where a mentorship program and lessons are held.

The business venture evolved as a “natural next step” for the Canal Street Potters who showed interest in retail and were met with success in the past three Christmas sales they held at the gallery. Before the group settled at its current location, they faced a challenge of finding a space that would suit their needs and allow them to both create and sell pottery under one setting.

“I love the way the motion of the wheel is captured by the clay. It’s very satisfying to take a piece of clay and make something beautiful out of it.”
—Sharon Merriam

“We don’t have a lot of time in the group to look after a gallery elsewhere,” Smeraldo says. “We thought of lots of different possibilities, but they were all high overhead, all requiring a lot of time and effort. Some of our members have kids and other jobs. It just wasn’t going to be possible time-wise and money-wise. And so it occurred to us that it would look really nice here, it helps to promote the classes, people come in, they see the work, they’re introduced to it and to some of our teachers. It’s a win-win situation.”

To the potters’ delight, the space makes for a perfect and convenient location, having the pottery supply store right next to the gallery and serving as a meeting point for the potters who come from different parts of the province. But for the group, the space has developed to be much more than a collective area to create and sell pottery. They express much joy in the opportunity to work with each other, noting that they experience more growth in each other’s company. “Usually, as a potter, you’re at home by yourself with your own wheel, your own kiln and you’re making things all by yourself,” Arruda says. “But we come here and there’s a group of us doing the same thing. We challenge and get inspired by each other.” “It’s not just making pottery, there’s also a connection with everybody.”

The gallery offers buyers the chance to purchase one-of-a-kind pieces that are created on-site. “The comments we always get
are people know that the pieces are unique and the work is not everywhere,” Gordon says. “They’re going to buy something or give a gift that they know isn’t going to be anywhere else. “It’s nice for people to be able to buy things that were made here by people who are here,” she says.

Just as different people are drawn to different types of pottery, the Canal Street Potters each have their own aesthetic. Both Smeraldo and Gordon enjoy creating Raku pottery. An aesthetic that involves a lot of post-firing reduction, Raku pieces have a lot of luster and only take 45 minutes to fire. Owning a bed and breakfast in Lawrencetown beach and being heavily involved with the surfing community was the drive behind Patterson’s pieces that are “inspired by the sea.” Starfish, driftwood, beach rocks and shells are prominent in her work, while Yeatman has a passion for making dragons. Arruda enjoys making carvings for her pottery and Kepkay, who used to be an oceanographer, creates natural patterns with her ocean-inspired pieces.

Despite their varying aesthetics, all of the potters create functional art and recognize its importance. “A lot of people are starting to want to get into doing something creative and what better way than making something you can use that’s functional,” Arruda says. “A painting is nice but it’s just on the wall, but if you make yourself a bowl, you can use it for dip or you can give it to your mom. It’s also making something very practical.”

The gallery holds great significance for the pottery students as well. Each week, the place caters to approximately 50 students ranging from ages 16 to 76. The students are grateful for the new venue that gives them the opportunity to learn hands-on pottery from their mentors.

“Pottery is a great medium for people to be relaxed and begin to realize that they can be creative, it just needs to be drawn out or they just have to learn how to express it,” Smeraldo says. “The primary interest is helping people to express themselves creatively”.

Sharon Merriam took pottery lessons from Smeraldo and instantly became hooked on the craft. “I love the way the motion of the wheel is captured by the clay,” she says. “It’s very satisfying to take a piece of clay and make something beautiful out of it. You feel like you’ve made something out of nothing.”

Getting the chance to work with the other potters is one of the things that Merriam values the most. “It’s the collaboration that is just wonderful and I enjoy it,” she says. “If you’re working by yourself, it can be very lonely. Here you’re bouncing ideas off each other and you get feedback from them. Everybody’s supportive of each other and working with a group keeps you motivated.”

In the near future, the potters hope that an expansion can be made for their gallery. “It would be wonderful to enlarge the space and have more open studio time for our students and other people of the community,” Smeraldo says. “It can be expanded to children’s classes. We see a possibility of really good growth here”.

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